1983 British League season

1983 British League season

League	British League
Champions	Cradley Heathens
Knockout Cup	Cradley Heathens
League Cup	Belle Vue Aces
Individual	Erik Gundersen
Midland Cup	Cradley Heathens
London Cup	Wimbledon Dons
Highest average	Hans Nielsen
Division/s below	1983 National League

The 1983 British League season was the 49th season of the top tier of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom and the 19th known as the British League.^[1]

Summary

Cradley Heathens won the league and cup double.^[2] Despite losing their double world champion Bruce Penhall to retirement the Cradley side performed just as well. Erik Gundersen, Simon Wigg and Lance King were now some of the world's leading riders and backed up by Phil Collins, Alan Grahame and Peter Ravn they were a formidable team. Even Penhall's replacement, a new signing from Denmark Jan O. Pedersen was already showing signs of a bright future.^[3]

This would also be the final season of speedway for three-time world champion Ole Olsen, who announced his retirement.^[4]

Final table

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Cradley Heath Heathens	28	26	0	2	52
2	Ipswich Witches	28	22	1	5	45
3	Coventry Bees	28	19	0	9	38
4	Reading Racers	28	17	0	11	34
5	Belle Vue Aces	28	15	3	10	33
6	Wimbledon Dons	28	15	1	12	31
7	Hackney Hawks	28	14	0	14	28
8	King's Lynn Stars	28	12	1	15	25
9	Birmingham Brummies	28	12	0	16	24
10	Sheffield Tigers	28	10	2	16	22
11	Halifax Dukes	28	10	1	17	21
12	Leicester Lions	28	9	2	17	20
13	Poole Pirates	28	9	0	19	18
14	Eastbourne Eagles	28	7	1	20	15
15	Swindon Robins	28	7	0	21	14

M = Matches; W = Wins; D = Draws; L = Losses; Pts = Total Points

Top Ten Riders (League Averages)

	Rider	Nat	Team	C.M.A.
1	Dennis Sigalos		Ipswich Witches	10.99
2	Hans Nielsen		Birmingham Brummies	10.77
3	Erik Gundersen		Cradley Heathens	10.59
4	Mitch Shirra		Reading Racers	10.38
5	Michael Lee		Poole Pirates	10.36
6	Kenny Carter		Halifax Dukes	10.34
7	Billy Sanders		Ipswich Witches	10.27
8	Chris Morton		Belle Vue Aces	10.17
9	Phil Crump		Swindon Robins	9.88
10	Jan Andersson		Reading Racers	9.61

British League Knockout Cup

The 1983 Speedway Star British League Knockout Cup was the 45th edition of the Knockout Cup for tier one teams. Cradley Heath Heathens were the winners.^[5]

First round

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/07	Belle Vue	56-22	Halifax
30/06	Wimbledon	46-32	Swindon
25/06	Halifax	41-37	Belle Vue
25/06	Swindon	34-44	Wimbledon
19/06	Eastbourne	34-43	Kings Lynn
11/06	Coventry	45-33	Sheffield
11/06	Cradley Heath	46-32	Hackney
11/06	Kings Lynn	47-31	Eastbourne
09/06	Sheffield	37-41	Coventry
30/05	Birmingham	43-35	Reading
30/05	Reading	44-34	Birmingham
27/05	Hackney	35-43	Cradley Heath
24/05	Leicester	40-38	Ipswich
19/05	Ipswich	43-34	Leicester

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
21/08	Kings Lynn	45-33	Belle Vue
20/08	Belle Vue	58-20	Kings Lynn
23/07	Coventry	44-34	Wimbledon
21/07	Wimbledon	38-40	Coventry
18/07	Reading	40-38	Ipswich
13/07	Poole	35-43	Cradley Heath
09/07	Cradley Heath	53-25	Poole
07/07	Ipswich	39-39	Reading

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
09/10	Belle Vue	38-40	Coventry
08/10	Coventry	44-34	Belle Vue
24/09	Cradley Heath	47-31	Reading
19/09	Reading	32-46	Cradley Heath

Final

First leg=

12 October 1983

Coventry Bees Ole Olsen 10 Gary Guglielmi 8 Sam Nikolajsen 7 Steve Bastable 5 Rick Miller4 Finn Thomsen (guest) 3 Kevin Hawkins 2	39 - 39	Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 13 Simon Wigg 11 Phil Collins 8 Alan Grahame 3 Peter Ravn 2 Jan O. Pedersen 2 Lance King R/R
	[6]

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

17 October 1983

Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 13 Alan Grahame 9 Peter Ravn 7 Simon Wigg 7 Phil Collins 6 Jan O. Pedersen 5 Lance King R/R	47 - 31	Coventry Bees Ole Olsen 10 Gary Guglielmi 10 Bo Petersen (guest) 7 Steve Bastable 2 Rick Miller 1 Kevin Hawkins 1 Sam Nikolajsen 0
	[6]

Dudley Wood Stadium

Cradley Heath were declared Knockout Cup Champions, winning on aggregate 86-70.

League Cup

The League Cup was split into North and South sections. The two-legged final was won by Belle Vue Aces beating Coventry Bees in the final 86–70 on aggregate.

South Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Wimbledon Dons	14	11	0	3	22
2	Ipswich Witches	14	9	0	5	18
3	Reading Racers	14	8	0	6	16
4	Poole Pirates	14	8	0	6	16
5	Hackney Hawks	14	8	0	6	16
6	King's Lynn Stars	13	6	1	6	13
7	Eastbourne Eagles	14	2	1	11	5
8	Swindon Robins	13	2	0	11	4

North Group

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	Pts
1	Coventry Bees	12	9	1	2	19
2	Belle Vue Aces	12	8	0	4	16
3	Cradley Heathens	12	7	1	4	15
4	Halifax Dukes	11	5	0	7	10
5	Leicester Lions	12	4	0	8	8
6	Sheffield Tigers	12	4	0	8	8
7	Birmingham Brummies	12	4	0	8	8

Final

Date	Team one	Score	Team two
22/10	Coventry	39–39	Belle Vue
23/10	Belle Vue	47–31	Coventry

Leading final averages

Rider	Team	Average
Hans Nielsen	Birmingham	10.82
Dennis Sigalos	Ipswich	10.75
Chris Morton	Belle Vue	10.30
Kenny Carter	Halifax	10.28
Erik Gundersen	Cradley Heath	10.23
Michael Lee	Poole	10.16
Phil Crump	Swindon	10.03
Mitch Shirra	Reading	10.02
Tommy Knudsen	Coventry	9.87
Billy Sanders	Ipswich	9.70
Ole Olsen	Coventry	9.56

Riders' Championship

Erik Gundersen won the British League Riders' Championship, held at Hyde Road on 15 October.^[7]

Pos.	Rider	Heat Scores	Total
1	Erik Gundersen	3 3 3 2 3	14
2	Michael Lee	0 3 3 3 3	12
3	Hans Nielsen	2 3 3 2 2	12
4	Kenny Carter	1 1 2 3 3	10
5	John Louis	0 3 1 2 3	9
6	Billy Sanders	3 1 1 3 1	9
7	Mitch Shirra	2 2 0 3 1	8
8	Bo Petersen	3 2 1 0 2	8
9	Phil Crump	3 0 2 2 1	8
10	Ole Olsen	1 2 2 0 2	7
11	Jan Andersson	2 1 2 1 1	7
12	Paul Woods	2 2 0 1 0	5
13	David Bargh	1 0 1 1 2	5
14	Chris Morton	1 1 3 0 0	5
15	Mark Courtney	0 0 0 1 0	1
16	Kai Niemi	0 0 0 - -	0
17	Martin Scarisbrick (res)	0 - - - -	0
18	David Wild (res)	0 - - - -	0

• ef=engine failure, f=fell, x=excluded r-retired

Midland Cup

Cradley Heath won the Midland Cup. The competition consisted of five teams.^[8]

First round

Team one	Team two	Score
Leicester	Swindon	38–40, 32–46

Semi final round

Team one	Team two	Score
Coventry	Birmingham	48–30, 38–40
Cradley	Swindon	60–18, 40–38

Final

First leg

19 October 1983

Coventry Seve Bastable 11 Rick Miller 7 Kevin Hawkins 6 Sam Nikolajsen 5 Gary Guglielmi 4 John Davis (guest) 4 Keith White 1	38–40	Cradley Heath Erik Gundersen 11 Simon Wigg 6 Alan Grahame 6 Phil Collins 6 Peter Ravn 5 Jan O Pedersen 3 Simon Cross 3

Brandon Stadium

Second leg

24 October 1983

Cradley Heath Lance King 11 Erik Gundersen 10 Alan Grahame 9 Phil Collins 9 Peter Ravn 7 Simon Wigg 6 Jan O Pedersen 4	56–22	Coventry Jan Andersson (guest) 12 Rick Miller 4 Gary Guglielmi 3 Seve Bastable 1 Kevin Hawkins 1 Sam Nikolajsen 1 Keith White 0

Dudley Wood Stadium

Cradley won on aggregate 96–60

London Cup

Wimbledon won the London Cup but the competition consisted of just Wimbledon and Hackney.^[9]

Results

Team	Score	Team
Wimbledon	50–28	Hackney
Hackney	43–35	Wimbledon

Riders & final averages

Belle Vue

• Chris Morton 10.30
• Peter Collins 9.13
• Larry Ross 7.37
• Peter Carr 5.62
• Louis Carr 5.38
• Peter Ravn 4.95
• Andy Smith 4.48
• Kenny McKinna 4.30
• Martin Scarisbrick 1.09

Birmingham

• Hans Nielsen 10.82
• Andy Grahame 8.29
• Neil Evitts 6.88
• Shawn McConnell 5.71
• Karl Maier 5.63
• Petr Ondrašík 5.36
• John Jørgensen 5.01
• Kent Noer 4.85
• Paul Thorp 3.13
• Mike Wilding 2.07

Coventry

• Tommy Knudsen 9.87
• Ole Olsen 9.56
• Gary Guglielmi 8.07
• Steve Bastable 6.79
• Kevin Hawkins 5.44
• Sam Nikolajsen 5.23
• Rick Miller 4.87

Cradley Heath

• Erik Gundersen 10.23
• Simon Wigg 8.86
• Lance King 8.74
• Alan Grahame 8.69
• Phil Collins 7.98
• Peter Ravn 7.97
• Jan O. Pedersen 6.78
• Simon Cross 6.00
• Andy Reid 2.54
• David Cheshire 2.33

Eastbourne

• Paul Woods 8.73
• John Eskildsen 6.53
• Mike Lanham 4.18
• Dave Kennett 3.87
• Anders Eriksson 3.79
• Lillebror Johansson 3.79
• Piotr Pyszny 3.75
• Denzil Kent 3.65
• Trevor Geer 3.56
• Ottaviano Righetto 2.55
• Rene Christiansen 1.93
• Peter Schroeck 0.27

Hackney

• Bo Petersen 8.47
• Finn Thomsen 7.94
• Jens Rasmussen 6.74
• Sean Willmott 6.30
• John Titman 6.25
• Martin Hagon 4.83
• Antonín Kasper Jr. 4.39
• Bob Garrad 4.30

Halifax

• Kenny Carter 10.28
• Steve Baker 6.60
• Doug Wyer 6.17
• Steve Finch 5.77
• Martin Dixon 5.59
• Craig Pendlebury 5.41
• Gianni Famari 3.52
• Eric Boocock 2.40

Ipswich

• Dennis Sigalos 10.75
• Billy Sanders 9.70
• Jeremy Doncaster 6.79
• Preben Eriksen 6.72
• Nigel Flatman 4.82
• Andy Hines 4.51
• Carl Baldwin 4.08
• Andy Hibbs 4.06
• Andy Nightingale 0.35

King's Lynn

• John Louis 8.45
• Gordon Kennett 8.39
• Richard Hellsen 7.02
• Colin Richardson 6.29
• Kevin Jolly 6.21
• Melvyn Taylor 5.95
• Keith Bloxsome 5.25

Leicester

• Mark Courtney 8.66
• Les Collins 8.24
• Neil Collins 7.17
• Steve Regeling 5.95
• Finn Jensen 5.11
• Colin Cook 5.10
• Mike Lanham 4.98
• Eric Monaghan 4.76
• Steen Mastrup 3.85
• Phil Herne 3.81

Poole

• Michael Lee 10.16
• John Davis 7.72
• Kevin Smith 6.95
• Václav Verner 6.06
• Neil Middleditch 5.38
• Andy Campbell 4.74
• Stan Bear 4.41
• Sam Ermolenko 4.25 (4 matches only)
• Brian Jakobsen 4.23
• Erik Stenlund 3.56
• Keith Millard 2.96

Reading

• Mitch Shirra 10.02
• Jan Andersson 9.47
• Bobby Schwartz 9.02
• Pierre Brannefors 7.28
• Tim Hunt 4.31
• Peter Glanz 3.85
• Stanislav Urban 3.24
• John Grahame 2.74

Sheffield

• Shawn Moran 9.43
• David Bargh 7.03
• Phil White 6.26
• Dave Morton 5.84
• Reg Wilson 5.09
• Eric Monaghan 3.97
• Alan Mason 3.26
• Gerald Short 2.13

Swindon

• Phil Crump 10.03
• Bjorn Andersson 7.01
• Phil Herne 5.65
• Martin Yeates 5.23
• Steve Gresham 5.14
• Malcolm Holloway 4.99
• Alf Busk 4.31
• Steen Mastrup 3.57
• Per Sorensen 2.88
• Milan Špinka 1.93

Wimbledon

• Dave Jessup 9.25
• Malcolm Simmons 7.86
• Kai Niemi 7.67
• Ari Koponen 6.55
• Kelvin Tatum 6.19
• Mike Ferreira 5.95
• Roger Johns 5.18

See also

• List of United Kingdom Speedway League Champions
• Knockout Cup (speedway)

References

1. "Historic league tables". Speedway Archive.
2. "1983 league tables". Speedway GB.
3. "1983". Cradley Speedway. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
4. "SportsSnaps". Daily Mirror. 21 February 1983. Retrieved 21 January 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "1983 British League Knockout Cup". Speedway archive.
6. "Coventry Bees 1983 season" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
7. "Dane wins". Sunday Mirror. 16 October 1983. Retrieved 4 June 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "Cradley's treble glory!". Birmingham Mail. 25 October 1983. Retrieved 21 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. "1983 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 October 2023.